Chapter 8 Tbb

• Tiffany's POV
• Tiffany was going through notes of the classes she had missed, when a knock sounded on her door. Freya had helfully lent them to her after hearing from Timothy about what happened in the morning. Of course, neither of them knew exactly what was going on, but the mere fact that Tiffany was crying was enough cause for concern, even if they didn't know what was causing her to cry.
• She got off her soft bed and padded across the room in socked feet to the door. When she opened it, Mr. Gary James, the butler, was standing outside in his usual erect posture.
• "Miss Dion," he said, "There is a young gentleman here to see you."
• Tiffany sighed, about to ask him for the millionth time to just address her by her name, but then the second part of his sentence caught up with her brain and she frowned in confusion.
• "Someone is here?" she asked, "To see me?"
• "Yes, Miss," said Mr. James.
• Was it Timothy? Had he come to see her because he was still worried even though she had kept telling him she was fine? But no. If it were him, he would have texted. And Mr. James would have said 'Timothy', instead of "a young gentleman", if it were him. All the staff knew Tiffany's best friends, their names and especially how they looked out.
• "Sorry, Gary, but could you please describe him for me?"
• Gary paused for a while, then said, "No need, Miss. It's Shawn Gold. He's here to see you."
• Tiffany's eyes widened in surprise, and her heart leapt in fear? Excitement? She didn't know. All she knew was that she wasn't ready to see him. She didn't want to.
• She panicked, looking around for solution while Mr. James simply stood there, waiting for his next directions. If only she could ask him to send Shawn away! Life would be so good. But she couldn't, she had ro meet him.
• "Okay," she said, trying to pretend as if she was cool, calm, and composed, "Tell him I'll be right with him in five minutes."
• "Alright, Miss," said Mr. James, and he bowed himself out of the her room's sitting area.
• Tiffany rushed into her walk-in closet, trying to get ready in the minimal time she had. She was in the middle of fretfully deciding between a cute pair of pink overalls and a short sunflower dress when she suddenly stopped.
• In fact, why was she doing this? Shawn had decided to come to her house unannounced so why should she bother herself to please him?
• She looked down at herself. She was dressed in a huge stay-at-home grey t-shirt with faded baby pink shorts underneath. When she stood up, the shirt fell past the shorts so that a casual observer didn't know that she was wearing one at all. It wasn't very presentable, but she found that she didn't care much.
• She tiptoed down the stairs barefoot, somewhat annoyed that she had to be made nervous in her house. When she reached the last few stairs, she leaned out, peeping into the living room while trying to be quiet.
• Shawn sat with his back to the stairs so he couldn't see her. His back profile was very gorgeous, even though she could only see from the tops of his shoulders upwards.
• What the hell was he doing at her house? Especially now that her father wasn't around? Had Shawn come here to see her father then discover he wasn't here, or had he specifically planned to come and catch her alone?
• She nibbled at her bottom lip, trying to decide what to do and how to approach him. Should she act friendly to show him that what he thought about her didn't bother her one bit, or should she be frigid and cold to show him that she knew he didn't like her, but she didn't like him either and she would gladly accept the war? She was still deciding when Shawn suddenly turned his head, and for the second time in as many days, they locked eyes.
• Tiffany's eyes widened in shock, and she immediately straightened up, pretending as if she had just got there. Shawn didn't look too convinced.
• "Mr. Gold," she said, in way of greeting. She walked into the living room, Shawn's eyes on her with every step. She hoped she didn't appear as nervous as she felt.
• Shawn didn't answer her but simply stood up when she got to him. She wanted to ask him what the hell he was doing in her house but bit her tongue. She didn't want to give him any more reason to accuse her of not having manners.
• He looked her up and down, resting his eyes on the line where her shorts ended and her thighs began and then continue to trail down her legs. She couldn't read the look on his face, it was impassive as always, but she thought she saw something flash briefly in his eyes. He was probably just thinking about how indecent she was, and she didn't care. She jutted her chin out oroudly, showing him that she didn't care about whatever negative thoughts he might have about her.
• Shawn opened his mouth to speak, and Tiffany expected to hear him say something about the way she was dressed, but instead he said in a low, husky voice, "Get dressed, we're going out."
• That was so unexpected that Tiffany stammered a little. "W-what?" She asked, incredulous, and Shawn looked at her as if she was stupid. But before he could reply, the front door opened, and Tiffany's dad walked in. He didn't look surprised to see Shawn standing in his living room.
• Shawn stood up and inclined his head politely to him. They began to talk and exchange pleasantries, and before Tiffany knew it, she was being sent up to her room to get ready for an outing she never agreed to go for.
• She opted for a simple maroon dress that delicately hung off her body, accentuating her curves. She'd bought it during the summer vacation, but had never had the chance to wear it. She paired it with a pair of earrings that looked like red water drops and a simple black pair of heeled sandals. They didn't even tell her where she would be going so she didn't want to try too hard or at the same time look under-dressed. She admired herself in the mirror for a while, deciding she had done a good job. She was ready to go.
• She headed down the stairs, to where her father was still deep in conversation with Shawn. They both looked up at her when they heard her arrive. Her father smiled, but Shawn only looked down at his watch.
• Tiffany's dad held out a hand to help her down the last few steps, kissing her cheek when she finally got to him.
• "You look lovely, honey," he said, and Tiffany smiled at him.
• "Thanks, dad."
• Shawn began to walk towards the door without a single word of compliment, and Tiffany scowled at his retreating back. And he had accused her of having poor manners!
• He stopped at the door after opening it, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Dion, I'll have your daughter back by eight." He inclined his head politely, and Tiffany's dad laughed.
• "By all means, you're both adults. Take as much time as you need."
• Shawn smiled politely, but Tiffany only bit the inside of her cheek, saying nothing.
• They left the building headed towards the car, Shawn immediately unlocking the car door and going around it to get into the drivers' seat without even stopping to open the passenger side door for Tiffany.
• She rolled her eyes eyes and opened it herself, heavily depositing herself on the plush seat. It wasn't like she needed him to do it for her, anyway.
• "Where are we going?" She asked him when he immediately put the car into gear without so much as a glance in her direction.
• Shawn turned then to stare at her, then looked away as if she was simply a stain he'd recently noticed on his car seat and would take care of later. She thought he had elected to ignore the question as usual, but then he spoke up.
• "Out," was the only word he said, and then they were pulling out of the gates.
• Tiffany huffed with annoyance at the annoyingly iaconic answer. Fine, then, she thought, Keep your secrets.
• Neither of them noticed the black Toyota Corolla covertly trailing them, never too far, never too close.